Leslie Meier

Mom and occasional sleuth Lucy Stone must take a break from baking Halloween cupcakes and rejuvenating old costumes for her children to hunt down an evil arsonist wreaking havoc in Tinker's Cove. Reissue.

Trick Or Treat Murder

Sarah Sammis

The odd bit of the novel is its lengthy denouement. After the inevitable event and Lucy's near death experience, there's a long section involving her recovery and some weird gaslighting by the hospital.

There's also a completely unnecessary secondary confrontation between Lucy and arsonist. The murderer would have gotten away with everything had they just left Lucy alone after she survived the fire. The ending reads like one of the more unhinged episodes of Criminal Minds.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...

First of all, I wasn't expecting to read about breastfeeding or milk "dropping" in a cozy mystery. This book ran the line between a cozy and, honestly, also ran the line for Lucy being a sleuth. I will say she did a good job of making it a standalone in a series though because I haven't read the others and knew what was going on with ease. 

At first I really liked the characters and the tempo of the story. It was easy to read and got right to the point. As we progressed it turned from great to more day to day life with mystery mixed into it. Sure there is an arsonist, but let's make some cupcakes and worry about the children, and then there's this feeble old lady that we need to feel bad for and the random babysitter. I think the characters were well formed but some seemed extraneous and out of context, which ate into the mystery angle.

What ruined the book for me, almost at the end, is that Lucy never really sleuths out the arsonist. Instead she just happens upon him/her and then it escalates quickly with little reason. I don't think that the author researched arsonist behavior very well, or maybe I know too much about their typology. It just feels off at the end for me.

So it was a nice filler for my reading challenge and for my Halloween theme but not something that will make me read more from this author.

It's October in Maine and Tinker's Cove is preparing for its annual Halloween festival. But while amateur sleuth Lucy Stone is getting her four kids ready for the holiday, an arsonist is loose in town. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of Tinker's Cove's oldest house, arson turns into murder.

Reprinted Edition "A charming setting and likable cast. . .enjoyable reading." --Publishers Weekly Haunted-house parties and ghostly galas. . .grinning pumpkins, mayhem and murder. It's going to be one heck of a Halloween for Lucy Stone and Tinker's Cove. . . It's October in Maine, and everyone in Tinker's Cove is preparing for the annual Halloween festival. While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes, recycling tutus for her daughters' Halloween costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breast-feeding her brand-new bay, an arsonist is loose in Tinker's Cove. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town's oldest house, arson turns into murder. . . While the townsfolk work to transform a dilapidated mansion into a haunted house for the All-Ghouls festival, the hunt for the culprit heats up. Trick-or-treat turns deadly as a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke. . . "Lucy Stone is an endearing sleuth." --Dorothy Cannell

Trick Or Treat Murder

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